tempus fugit

Comment of the Day

Guitar Man

New York, NY May 7, 2016

Many thoughts have crossed my mind in the last year, some wild, some way out there, some totally implausible…and I’m not the first, perhaps, to voice them, but here goes:

1) Trump doesn’t want the presidency, and doesn’t think he’l win (even at this stage). It’s all about elevating brand awareness.
2) Trump wants to win. It’s all about the ego, and nothing more.
3) Trump doesn’t want to win because he loathes the idea of giving up his NY life, his businesses, and of living the life he’s come to love, in exchange for perhaps the most stressful job on the planet (and one he knows will in no way resemble his life in the business world).
4) Trump’s primary goal is to intentionally bring down the GOP (for whatever reasons he may have).
5) Trump is devising a way to throw the election so it appears he lost while giving it everything he had (because he really doesn’t want the presidency). He’ll then spin the loss in a way that frames him positively (of course). A loss will, in effect, be a win.
6) Re #5, this is plausible because, in many ways, he’s already won: he’s singlehandedly smoked the GOP establishment and turned the entire party upside down. He can crow about this for years. Great talk show fodder for him.

Who really can say they know for sure?

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This comment appeared in response to an article in the NYT : “Republican Party Unravels Over Trump Takeover”. There were over 2000 comments on this article.

The analysis presented in this comment, that is, possibility #5, is most likely correct; Trump will lose the election but use his support to control a significant group of voters many of whom will have deep resentments over Trump’s loss. What he will do with them is anyone’s guess.

Another comment pointing out the source of much of Trump’s support:

DW

Philly May 7, 2016

I am absolutely astounded at the way these analyses ignore the obvious: the Trump phenomenon is the backlash against our first black president. Come on! You go back decades dissecting American conservatism, and you somehow manage not to mention that Donald Trump headed the “Birther” movement, which gave racists the okay to assert that Barack Obama was not a real American – explicitly because he was alleged (falsely) to have been born in Africa? HELLO?

Are we ever going to be allowed to discuss this elephant in the living room? Are we supposed to pretend FOREVER that the origins of this outburst of hatred are totally mysterious?

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The racist backlash against Obama’s election gravitated towards Trump’s “birther” position and comprise a significant part of his support.

Finally: by not allying with Ryan, Trump can distance himself from the paralyzed Congress of the last few years:

Sombrero

California May 7, 2016

Where were they when the country was plunged into war, into recession, into engineered government shutdowns and legislative sabotage? Answer: They were aiding and abetting all of it, for their own personal and political gain. Exhibit A: Paul Ryan. Ted Cruz. Mitch McConnell. Eric Cantor. John Boehner. Jeff Sessions. Steve King….on and on and on.

Mr. Trump, for all his faults, stands apart from them and their elite-driven agenda of political, economic, and social destruction.